How many times have your political ideas changed, and what were those changes, over the course of your interest in politics?

Good question.

Start until freshman year of high school: Conservative socially and fiscallySophomore year until joining DDO during Junior year: Socially liberal and fiscally conservativeAfter that, it became less difficult to classify and I don't know the major shifts and their times, so I'll just list them in order: Libertarian, Troll, Ancap, Libertarian, Republican, Libertarian again, and now, Libertarian sometimes socialistic environmentalist humanist consequentialist with a preference towards eventual capitalistic anarchy.

Debate me: Economic decision theory should be adjusted to include higher-order preferences for non-normative purposes http://www.debate.org...

Do you really believe that? Or not? If you believe it, you should man up and defend it in a debate. -RoyLatham

My Pet Fish is such a Douche- NiamC

It's an app to meet friends and stuff, sort of like an adult club penguin- Thett3, describing Tinder

What are your opinions on the IRA, preferably those branches still operating in this day of age, the Real IRA (RIRA) and the Provisional IRA? Might you consider them capitalistic in their dealings, say; or anarchistic? Their dealings these days seem largely to do with drug dealers, both in brutalising those suspected of being such, which they personally publicise, and in taking bribes from such, which is publicised otherwise. Furthermore, it is widely regarded that the IRA's main strength lies in its anonymity. Is all of this not reminiscent of anarchy?

There is one individual around where I'm from who supposedly controls quite the force, but of course none of it can be accounted for by anyone outside his circle. He was consulted recently as regards this kid who was widely suspected of causing quite a bit of trouble around his hometown, burglarising, drug dealing, doling out some severe beatings, etc. That kid later ended up in hospital with two broken arms and two broken legs, as a result of having been threatened by the aforementioned "individual" and having reacted negatively. Is this, in your opinion, how society should function?

I actually fought that kid, too, before, and it didn't go very far. He was being quite the little sh*t, threatening me with a friend of his and so when he offered me out I accepted and quickly put a finish to that. I hit him all of about twice I'd say, only to have him concede in fear, stating, "If I go home with a black eye my brothers will kill me". Now, I've heard many awful stories of him since and perhaps had I further brutalised him myself at that time he would not have gone on to do some of the things he did, but had I that right? I would personally say that I had not and might have dealt with that situation in a much more civilsed manner than I did, perhaps to leave the kid with his limbs but with a much improved outlook on life all the same. I mean, there was obviously some familial tension there which seems to have gone largely overlooked in his brutalisation. What if this had been remedied? But alas it was not and the situation played out as I have stated it. Is this then not reminiscent of anarchy more so than order?

How many times have your political ideas changed, and what were those changes, over the course of your interest in politics?

Good question.

Start until freshman year of high school: Conservative socially and fiscallySophomore year until joining DDO during Junior year: Socially liberal and fiscally conservativeAfter that, it became less difficult to classify and I don't know the major shifts and their times, so I'll just list them in order: Libertarian, Troll, Ancap, Libertarian, Republican, Libertarian again, and now, Libertarian sometimes socialistic environmentalist humanist consequentialist with a preference towards eventual capitalistic anarchy.

haha, nice. That's not entirely different from how I was when I was in high school.

Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

How many times have your political ideas changed, and what were those changes, over the course of your interest in politics?

Good question.

Start until freshman year of high school: Conservative socially and fiscallySophomore year until joining DDO during Junior year: Socially liberal and fiscally conservativeAfter that, it became less difficult to classify and I don't know the major shifts and their times, so I'll just list them in order: Libertarian, Troll, Ancap, Libertarian, Republican, Libertarian again, and now, Libertarian sometimes socialistic environmentalist humanist consequentialist with a preference towards eventual capitalistic anarchy.

haha, nice. That's not entirely different from how I was when I was in high school.

Are your parents/family generally conservative?

Generally speaking, yes. They used to have a lot more influence on my political views, but since joining DDO I've been looking at the issues a lot more critically.

Debate me: Economic decision theory should be adjusted to include higher-order preferences for non-normative purposes http://www.debate.org...

Do you really believe that? Or not? If you believe it, you should man up and defend it in a debate. -RoyLatham

My Pet Fish is such a Douche- NiamC

It's an app to meet friends and stuff, sort of like an adult club penguin- Thett3, describing Tinder

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

How can one defy rights and also be in favour of them? An example being private property. Are you claiming that it's your right to confiscate property I earned and bought? Also, I think you are thinking of communism in regards to people being the governments property, these people are at the disposal of governments as slaves who have to do the job their respective government tells them, and they cannot gain upward mobility and no matter their effort, the result is the same, usually poverty.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

I don't see the comparison. Libertarians are for both laws and moderate taxation, just because we aren't for fiscal waste and the re distribution of wealth doesn't mean we are anarchists. Also, government is the tyrannical boss in most cases, so your point is moot.

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

*slams face into wall*

On this site, we've lost the distinction between a stupid comment and a disagreeable comment. I don't find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that Jesus saved me for god know's what (pun intended),... nor do I find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that morality is static and absolute, as if it were written somewhere in the cosmos.... so I really don't see what your excuse is for this melodramatic reaction to a rather reasonable point.

"A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly with the chain of their own ideas" - Michel Foucault

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

*slams face into wall*

On this site, we've lost the distinction between a stupid comment and a disagreeable comment. I don't find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that Jesus saved me for god know's what (pun intended),... nor do I find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that morality is static and absolute, as if it were written somewhere in the cosmos.... so I really don't see what your excuse is for this melodramatic reaction to a rather reasonable point.

It was hardly a 'reasonable point.' He confused libertarianism with anarchism and then went on to bash that strawman by attacking a strawman of anarchism.

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

*slams face into wall*

On this site, we've lost the distinction between a stupid comment and a disagreeable comment. I don't find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that Jesus saved me for god know's what (pun intended),... nor do I find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that morality is static and absolute, as if it were written somewhere in the cosmos.... so I really don't see what your excuse is for this melodramatic reaction to a rather reasonable point.

It was hardly a 'reasonable point.' He confused libertarianism with anarchism and then went on to bash that strawman by attacking a strawman of anarchism.

... libertarianism calls for the repeal of unnecessarily prohibitive laws in the work place, citing the voluntary interaction of employer and employee as a basis for that rule-lessness. Where is this straw man you speak of? And how is this stance in any way exclusive to anarchy?

"A stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true politician binds them even more strongly with the chain of their own ideas" - Michel Foucault

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

*slams face into wall*

On this site, we've lost the distinction between a stupid comment and a disagreeable comment. I don't find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that Jesus saved me for god know's what (pun intended),... nor do I find myself slamming my face into walls when people claim that morality is static and absolute, as if it were written somewhere in the cosmos.... so I really don't see what your excuse is for this melodramatic reaction to a rather reasonable point.

It was hardly a 'reasonable point.' He confused libertarianism with anarchism and then went on to bash that strawman by attacking a strawman of anarchism.

... libertarianism calls for the repeal of unnecessarily prohibitive laws in the work place, citing the voluntary interaction of employer and employee as a basis for that rule-lessness. Where is this straw man you speak of? And how is this stance in any way exclusive to anarchy?

"It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit"

This is anarchism, or at the very least not "completely and utterly libertarianism."

At 9/28/2013 5:35:15 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:Libertarianism is pretty much completely and utterly the notion that people are your property. It's the notion that a state, i.e, a coming together of people, shouldn't exit. It defies rights, etc., in favour of private property and enterprise and that's it really. There's just no greater cause there, everything else the same otherwise.

How can one defy rights and also be in favour of them? An example being private property. Are you claiming that it's your right to confiscate property I earned and bought? Also, I think you are thinking of communism in regards to people being the governments property, these people are at the disposal of governments as slaves who have to do the job their respective government tells them, and they cannot gain upward mobility and no matter their effort, the result is the same, usually poverty.

I mean, imagine working for a tryrannical boss, no laws to protect you from him, and compare that to paying taxes...

I don't see the comparison. Libertarians are for both laws and moderate taxation, just because we aren't for fiscal waste and the re distribution of wealth doesn't mean we are anarchists. Also, government is the tyrannical boss in most cases, so your point is moot.

CA, I'm thinking of no taxes and hence no government. Taxes are "making property of people," no?

Otherwise, you might more appropriately consider yourself a minarchist or something. Let's not overcomplicate the English language, dude. Libertarianism is just a certain shade of anarchy? Yeah okay, bro.

At 9/28/2013 1:15:36 AM, AnDoctuir wrote:There is one individual around where I'm from who supposedly controls quite the force, but of course none of it can be accounted for by anyone outside his circle. He was consulted recently as regards this kid who was widely suspected of causing quite a bit of trouble around his hometown, burglarising, drug dealing, doling out some severe beatings, etc. That kid later ended up in hospital with two broken arms and two broken legs, as a result of having been threatened by the aforementioned "individual" and having reacted negatively. Is this, in your opinion, how society should function?

Just to clarify that I have this right:There is one guy who controls the majority of violence. There was another kid who did bad stuff. The first guy told him to stop, the second guy didn't, or responded violently, and the first guy responded violently?

Debate me: Economic decision theory should be adjusted to include higher-order preferences for non-normative purposes http://www.debate.org...

Do you really believe that? Or not? If you believe it, you should man up and defend it in a debate. -RoyLatham

My Pet Fish is such a Douche- NiamC

It's an app to meet friends and stuff, sort of like an adult club penguin- Thett3, describing Tinder